Curtain Call
by JainaXF
Summary: What if Satine has waiting until the curtain call to fall ? Well, her destiny and Christian’s would have been transformed …
1. Chapter 1

Curtain call

Title : Curtain Call

Author : Jainaxf

Summary : What if Satine has waiting until the curtain call to fall ? Well, her destiny and Christian's would have been transformed …

Disclaimer : No, I don't own any of the Moulin Rouge characters, I'm just playing with them

Note : I hope this fanfic will seem relatively realistic and interesting. I know it's always delicate to change the end, but it was so sad that I could not help it. I hope you will enkoy it !

Chapter I 

Jean Becquerel waited for the last act of "Spectacular, Spectacular" to begin. Although he had been very sceptic at the beginning, he did not regret to have accepted the invitation of his best friend, Sarah Brunel, a journalist who had obtained tickets for the play. When he had heard it was played at the former Moulin Rouge, he feared that the play would only be a vulgar show, but he had to admit that the plot was good and the cast played well. As the curtain opened, though, he saw someone entirely new hovering the lead actress, with his hands full of money. Jean got a strange impression that the whole last act was somehow more real than the rest of the play, and that the cast was more intensively involved into it. Finally, after a spectacular ultimate twist, the play came to an end. As he applauded, he could not wait for the curtain call.

Behind the curtains, Christian has never felt so ecstatic. She loved him, it had not been an act. Satine looked like she was in Heaven, too. He kissed her shortly before hearing the stage manager talking of the curtain call. He began to pull Satine in order to take their position. Satine, however seemed to want to say something :

" – Christian, I'm so sorry to have lied to you. But the Duke wanted to kill you and …"

He placed his finger on her lips and smiled :

"Shhh. It doesn't matter now. We overcame it and we can overcome anything. She smiled a little but tried to go on :

There is something else Christian …

Don't worry about it now."

They could hear the stage manager asking if everyone was in position. And as they were waiting for the curtain call, he pulled her into a proper kiss and for a moment, the world around them dissolved. Then, suddenly, they began to hear chuckles.

Jean waited impatiently for the curtain call as he had really been more emotionally drawn into this play than ever before in a theatre. After a minute or so, the curtains finally opened, only to reveal the new "sitar player" and the "Hindu courtesan" locked in a passionate kiss. The entire audience gasped and began rapidly to chuckle as the "evil maharajah" commented half ironically, half affectionately :

"The love between the sitar player and the courtesan is so strong that they can't even wait to be far from me !"

The couple broke apart reluctantly. They both looked a little embarrassed but they turned to the audience smiling and prepared to salute, when suddenly, the woman began to cough violently.

Christian turned back to Satine immediately and caught her as her legs stumbled.

"Satine ! What's wrong !"

The rest of the cast seemed very worried. Suddenly, Christian saw blood dripping from her mouth :

"God… Oh my God… Somebody get some help! A doctor ! Then, he leaned to hear what Satine tried to say :

I'm sorry, Christian…I…I'm…I'm…I'm dying…

No, you'll be all right. You'll be all right. You'll be all right_."_

Satine was struggling to talk :

"Cold…I'm cold…cold… Hold me. Hold me. "

Christian hold her closer, feeling dread rising in him. He tried to smile to reassure her :

"You've got to go on, Christian.

Can't go on without you, though.

You've got so much to give…"

Jean arrived just in time to hear these words whispered. He had got up as soon as he heard the desperate plea from the young actor. As he arrived on the scene, he asked :

"I'm a doctor, does anyone know what she is suffering from ?"

Ziedler cast his eyes down as he answered :

"It's consumption."

This appeared to shake the young man out of his trance :

"What ? You knew she was sick ! For how long ? How could you hide that from me ! Did Satine knew …"

Jean interrupted him :

"Now is not the time. I need a knife.

A knife ? Why !

In order to remove blood from her trachea. It is almost certain that there is a clot of blood preventing her from breathing.

And then, she will be ok, right ?"

Refusing to answer, he turned instead to the dwarf-clown who was giving him a knife already. The actress looked sad and very weak :

-" Don't worry, it is not too painful", he said to reassure her. She only gave him a little nod and squeezed Chrisitian's hand, before she passed away.

Smoothly, he performed the necessary moves. All the cast and the audience was watching him anxiously as Satine was now totally motionless.

He sighed :

- "Now, all we can do is take her to an hospital and wait to see if she wakes up."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

_Note : Thanks a lot for the reviews ! It's always nice to see that people have appreciated your story ! Here is chapter 2, it got a lot of dialogue and exposition but also emotions and I hope I have managed to keep it interesting. I hope you will like it ! _

Christian was waiting anxiously in the hospital room. It had been 2 hours since Satine has collapsed and she had not woken up yet. The doctor who has intervened did not seem really hopeful, yet Christian refused to give up : he could not go on without Satine. Suddenly, he saw a slight movement in the bed near him :

"- Satine ! How are you feeling ?"

Satine struggled to talk : - better", she said in an hoarse whisper. Christian squeezed her hand and said with an assured voice :

"- You are going to be fine, don't worry. Everything is going to be all right, I promised."

Satine sighted and closed her eyes. She had to tell him the truth, to prepare him for the inevitable…

"- No, Christian, I'm not going to be fine. I have consumption and I'm dying. I learned this from Harold only last night. That's why I didn't run away with you last night : I didn't want you to go through this, I …"

Christian interrupted her :

"- So, you would have died while I still believed that you never really loved me ? This would have been worse, Satine ! We will find a way to get you better. I can't live without you !"

Satine was about to answer when the door opened to let Jean Becquerel appear. As soon as he entered, he was bombarded by Christian's questions :

" - There is a way to get her better, isn't it ? It is not so bad as it look, right ?

What …"

Becquerel interrupted him :

"- Calm down, please ! I can't tell you anything if you don't let me speak !" His face grew somber as turned toward Satine and went on :

"- I'm afraid I have no good news. You have consumption in a terminal phase and There are no known medical treatments that would be able to heal you. I'm sorry to have to tell you that, but I'm afraid all you can do is pray."

After hearing the diagnostic, Satine answered :

"- Thank you for your honesty, doctor. I already knew I was condemned, anyway."

Christian shook his head violently, denying everything he had just heard :

"- No ! There must be something ! We are in a good hospital, aren't we ? Good care and medication must have some effect ! "

Jean felt bad to be the one to crush this young man's hopes, but he didn't have any choice :

"- I'm sorry, but the only effect that it will have is to extend your lifetime for a few weeks, Miss. And sir, I must warn you : there is a low risk of contagion, especially if …I am sorry to have to ask you that but …Did you have contacts more …intimate than a kiss ?"

The look that passed between the two young people and their blushing was all the answer he needed. He sighed :

"- Well, in that case, we will need to run a few tests on you too. And you should not stay too close to Miss Satine."

Christian looked at him as if he were crazy :

"- I'm not going to leave her ! He turned toward Satine : And I'm not going to accept to let you die either ! Not when I just got you back ! I want a second diagnostic. With all the discoveries made these last years, there must be some that could save you !

- Christian …This time you won't be able to save me, nothing could. But even if I die soon, I am so glad to have known you ! I have never been happier in my life than for these few months we were together. You have taught me what true love is. But I don't want you to waste your life because of me ! You are too young and talented ! You have to overcome my death and go on ! Promise me you will go on and lead a happy life ! "

Jean felt himself more and more as an intruder and began to leave when, suddenly, Christian's last remark gave him an idea. He cleared his throat and said :

"- I will leave you for tonight. Sir, I'm afraid you won't be able to stay much longer, given the hospital rules. I will come back tomorrow morning for a second diagnostic, after I would have discuss with some colleagues. But I don't think they will have a different opinion of mine, he warned. However, it never hurts to have a second opinion.

He was beginning to go out of the room when Christian called him :

- Wait ! Thank you for everything you have done, Doctor.

- I only did what every doctor would have done, sir. I'll see you both tomorrow, he answered before finally exiting the room."

Only a few seconds after he was gone, a nurse entered :

"- I'm sorry sir, but I must ask you to leave. The hours for visits are finished since quite some time."

Christian simply glared at her :

" - I will not leave her.

- I'm afraid you don't have any choice, sir. These are the hospital rules and if you don't want to accept it, we have a security service to force you."

Satine looked worried and said to Christian :

"- Christian, it's ok, I can stay here alone tonight and you can see me tomorrow. Besides, it's probably better if there are risks of contagion …

- I won't leave you now, Satine ! No matter what happens, I'll stay with you till the end. He turned toward the nurse : Do you ever had someone you love in a hospital ? If this someone was seriously sick, would you want to leave him ? I simply cannot leave her, I don't care about rules, love don't know any rule !"

The nurse looked at the young man who was looking both so desperate and determined 0.:

"- Oh … All right, I guess it's ok for you to stay one night. As long as you don't disturb other patients …

- I promise you, I won't leave this room. Thank you so much " , said Christian, feeling relieved.

The nurse left then. Despite the circumstances, Satine could not help but teased Christian a little :

" - You could really talk anyone into doing anything, don't you ?"

Christian smiled a little while he answered :

"- Well, that's part of my charm, darling.

- You shouldn't have done it, though. I don't want you to risk to become sick because of me, Christian. The doctor said I could be contagious and …"

He interrupted her :

"- One night more or less won't make any difference Satine. I've already been in close contact with you these last months, so if you are contagious, I'm probably already infected anyway. I will stay with you no matter what !"

Satine looked at him, worried:

" - Don't say things like Chrisitan ! I could never forgive myself if you became sick because of me !

- Don't blame yourself Satine, you couldn't have know ! And, anyway, whatever happens, I will never regret to love you. You don't want me to go, do you ?"

The look in Saltine's eyes was all the answer he needed and he snuggled himself in her bed, holding her tightly. At first, Satine seemed to want to protest, but once she was in Christian's arms, she couldn't bring herself to say anything. She knew it was not reasonable but somehow she did not care. Christian was right for the risk of contagion and she did not have the willpower to push him away anymore. She fell asleep rapidly, feeling serene now she was once again with Christian. She was not afraid of what would happen, as long as she was with him.

Christian took much longer to fall asleep. He was feeling both the happiness of knowing Satine loved him and the dread to lose her. He had the impression that fate was against them and he feared to have Satine back only to have her snatched away from him very soon. No, love had to overcome all obstacles, there had to be a way to save her, he could not stand the thought to live without her. Finally, after a few hours of torturing thoughts, he finally surrendered to exhaustion.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III 

_Note : Thanks to all people who sent me reviews ! You rock and I hope to receive your opinions on this chapter too _  
_Oh, and I need a betareader for my English version, so if anyone is interested, send me an e-mail please._

The next morning, Jean arrived in Satine 's room to watch a curious exchange : the sick young woman was still here of course, but her companion had apparently manage to stay as well and they were both arguing with one of the hospital's nurse :

"- I cannot even believe that someone of our own staff let you stay here last night ! That was totally irresponsible ! Especially with your condition, Miss !"

Satine looked a little guilty but answered back :

- "Christian already has been exposed, one night more is not likely to change anything !

- You don't know that ! Consumption is still relatively unknown and deadly in almost every case ! This is not something to be taken lightly !"

Looking a little abashed, Satine looked about to answer when a violent cough interrupted her. As soon as he heard that sound, Christian was at Satine's side :

"- Are you all right ? After her coughing finally ended, Satine finally managed to give him a little nod. Christian turned back towards the nurse :

Who as set up those rules anyway ? They are stupid !"

The nurse seemed momentarily out of objection and Jean decided it was the good moment to make his presence know, before there was more trouble :

"- Hum, hum … It is ok, Miss, this man had to stay for some tests anyway. Could you go tell to Doctor Dubois to prepare the material for a consumptive test, please ?"

The nurse looked about to protest at first, but then, she seemed to change her mind and simply said :

"- I'm on my way Doctor Bequerel."

As she turned towards Christian, she added :

"- But if you are to stay here as a patient, you'll have to go in the men's wing. This is a respectable hospital here, not a brothel !"

This last remark seemed to make Satine uncomfortable, so Christian broke the tension by saying :

"- This nurse reminds me of my father : always talking about rules and respectable ! "

Satine smiled a little at that :

"- You never talk to me about him … One of these days I like to hear more about your family."

- Believe me, it is a boring story."

His face became anxious as he asked the dreaded question to the doctor :

"- So, what is the second diagnostic ?"

Jean hesitated, not wanting to give any false hope :

"- Well, it's a mixed bag really … I was right about my diagnostic last night : traditional medication against consumption would not have any lasting effect on such an advanced case as yours, miss.

But maybe there could be a slight chance and I insist slight that …

- A slight chance of what ? Just tell us everything, please , intervened Satine.

- All right. I talk with two of my friends of your case this morning and we think that we may have an experimental treatment that could have better results than other traditional treatments.

- Really ? That's wonderful news ! Will it be able to heal her completely ? And your friends,they are good doctors, I'm sure, said Christian.

- Don't get too exited yet. As I said, it a highly experimental treatment with a new chemical element with some amazing properties : uranium. We have discovered that a limited exposition to its radiation could cure mice from certain diseases, including consumption : the virus seems to burn inside the body and, from what we have seen until now, it does not come back. And my two friends are not doctors but very good chemists : Pierre and Marie Curie. My father works with them, that's how I know them."

Christian and Satine seem unsure of how to react. Satine talked first :

"- Well, That's good, isn't it ? Better to have some hope than none ! What exactly are the chances of my recovery ?

- Hmmmm …First, you must know that this possible treatment has only be tested on animals and never on humans. Normally, the mammals physiologic system is quite similar to ours, but there is still a small risk that it won't be the case here. And even though, the chance of a recovery at your stage are relatively slim : about one out of five. We could perhaps rise the odds a little by combining it with more traditional medications."

Their conversation was shortened by the nurse entering to announce it was time for Christian to do his test. After promising to Satine to come back rapidly in order to learn all the details about this treatment, Christian left.

About half an hour later, Jean et Christian were back. Christian had to wait until the evening to have the test's results but Jean wanted to explain to the two young people everything about his potential treatement.

"- Before you decide whether or not you are going to try this treatment, I must warn you of his major drawback : while it might eventually heal you, it will also probably weaken you and, if it doesn't work, it could even shorten your lifespan.

- But you think it is my only chance, right , replied Satine.

- Yes, I believe so. But as I was saying earlier, this new treatment is totally experimental and is not one hundred percents reliable. The decision is yours to make. I must leave now but I'll be back this evening with the test results. Oh, and if you decide to do this treatment, the sooner we start, the better chances it has to heal you."

He finally left the room. Christian and Satine kept looking at each other for a few seconds, not knowing quite why how to start. Finally, Satine broke the silence :

"- It seems like there is a small chance I'm going to be alright after all.

- See, I told you we could find something to save you !", replied Christian, looking very relieved and almost radiant.

Satine stared at him a bit worried and answered :

"- You know that, statistically, there are much more chances this treatment won't work, don't you ?

- Don't talk to me about numbers, please ! I always hated them ! You must have faith you will heal !

- Christian, Doctor Bequerel said that I only had one chance out of five to recover completely. It's good to have faith but we must be realistic …

- Realistic ? Satine, how many chances did we get that you mistook me for the Duke and that we fell in love ? Or that there was a doctor in the room to save youwhen you fell down at the end of the play ? Especially this one, who had an experimental treatment for you ? No, I would say that when it come to us, one chance in a million is in fact closer to nine chances out of ten !"

Satine simply smiled touched by Christian's words. At the same time, she could see that he was not ready yet to talk of the eventuality of her death, so she changed the subject :

"- All right, let's not talk about numbers then. What do you want to talk about ?

- Oh, I don't know, what about what we will do after your recovery or maybe my next writing project ?"

Satine teased him a little :

"- Mayby you should bring your typewriter and work here. I'm sure the nurse we saw this morning would be ecstatic !"

Chrisitan's face became more serious and somewhat ashamed :

"- Well about my typewriter …"

Toulouse was worried. He was on his way to visit Satine with the other bohemians and Harold, Marie and Chocolat had wished to come as well. Harold had told him what he knew of Satine's illness and Toulouse knew that Satine's death would destroy Christian. Satie interrupted his dark thoughts :

" - Toulouse ! We are almost here.

- I'm sorry, I let my mind wandered away."

They were now before the door of Satine's room. Toulouse knocked, not knowing quite what atmosphere would be in the room. The visitors were surprised to see Christian and Satine talking serenely.

After a few explanation from the young people, everyone felt a little relieved and glad to know there was hope, however small.

Then, Christian went on :

"-I also wanted to thank you all for helping us against the Duke yesterday. Especially you, Toulouse : without you, we would probably both be dead."

Satine added :

"- Yes, thanks a lot, you are the one who gave me the idea of using our song to call Christian back."

Toulouse was blushing a little and felt embarrassed with this profusion of praise :

"- Oh, it is not so extraordinary, you know, I only follow the bohemians ideals and …"

He was interrupted by the entrance of a nurse, followed by doctor Bequerel. The nurse looked disapprovingly at the crowd gathered there :

"- You know, the hospital's rules state that no more than two people at a time can visit a patient ! And I hope you are not making too much noise : we are in an hospital, not on a market place !"

With that, she put a plate with what looked as some sort of food on the table and left. Christian rolled his eyes and said :

"- She is really worse than Cerberus !"

He then turned to Jean and asked :

"- So, do you have the results ?

- I do. Do you mind if all these people hear it, or would you prefer to be alone ?

- I don't mind, go ahead.

- There are traces of the virus in your blood, but it is inactive at the moment. I think that a short exposition to uranium would make it disappear for good. By the way, have you decided if you ware going to take this treatment, miss ? If you do, I think we should start tomorrow.

- We'll do it, said Satine and Christian with one voice.

- Good. I will see you both tomorrow then. Oh, by the way, the hours of visite will be finished in half an hour. Good bye".

During the following thirty minutes, they all exchanged the news. There was only one thing saddening the joyous atmosphere : the Moulin Rouge would probably have to close, due to the Duke's actions, even with the success of "Spectacular, spectacular".

Finally, everyone left including Christian this time (Cerberus has seen it done !). They all promised to come back as soon as possible.

Nearly one week had passed and Christian was on his way to visit Satine. The treatment had excellent results on him and he was back in his garret. As for Satine, she seemed weaker, but the doctor assured that it was perfectly normal and that it was too soon to judge if the treatment was really effective.. Christian used the time when he was banished from the hospital to buy back his typewriter (Toulouse gathered the money at the end of the show) as Satine asked him to. But he could not bring himself to write : he spent most of his days with Satine and all of his nights thinking about her. Even though he never showed her any fear or doubt, he could not stop himself from picturing the worst sometimes.

As he came closer to the door of her room, he thought he heard some voices inside. _Who can it be ? The bohemians usually don't come so soon !_

As he came closer, he could hear a familiar voice saying :

" - Well, my dear, it seems that there is some divine sense of justice after all."

Christian entered rapidly and was met by the cold eyes of the Duke.

_P.S : I have done researches on consumption and how it was cured and my "experimental treatment" is medically believable from what I read. Henri and Jean Becquerel really existed and Henri worked with the Curie. Jean was an engineer, not a doctor but I change his profession for storytelling purposes ! By the way, I made a reference to one of the authors I loves, did you see it ? It was Terry Pratchett (Discworld) who talked of the fact that 'mages have calculated that one chance in a million have actually nine chances on ten to happen"._


End file.
